It’s hard to believe that a number of celebrity couples have been together since their adolescent years in a world like Hollywood. While fame and fortune drastically changed their lives, these stars didn’t let it negatively affect their marriages. Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi traveled around the globe, meeting thousands of fans with his band, and while there certainly is a stigma surrounding mega rock stars, his dedication to his wife, Dorothea Hurley, of over 40 years, is something to be celebrated in Hollywood.
The same can be said for Ron Howard, who has been married to his high school sweetheart, Cheryl Howard, since 1975. The actor and director’s rise to fame didn’t change this couple one bit, with the “A Beautiful Mind” director telling People, “I met her, and there was never anybody else.”
Having known someone for such a long time can be a major plus in a relationship, but several stars admitted that they were set up on a blind date by friends or mutual acquaintances to meet a potential partner. These stars didn’t have the advantage of knowing one another as teenagers, let alone as adults, but took the plunge and went on a date barely knowing who they were about to meet. While going on a blind date may have had these celebs feeling very wary, they wanted to give love a shot, and it worked out wonderfully.
Salma Hayek ended up marrying her blind date
As stunning and charismatic as she may be, actor Salma Hayek has admitted she was never the best at finding love. In fact, she told Allure in 2015 that she wished someone or something would have told her she would meet her current husband one day, luxury fashion magnate François-Henri Pinault before she “dated some people I shouldn’t have dated.”
While Hayek would be 40-years-old by the time she met her future husband, she revealed that she was caught off guard when her friends had set her up with Pinault. “I didn’t know I was on a date,” the actor recalled to Latina (via People). “I thought I was going to an event and then there was one person at it. I was set up by friends to think I was going to an event, because they knew I wouldn’t go on a date!” She went on to share that she “was angry” once she realized what was going on. “It started out really badly, but, as you can see, it ended happy,” she said.
However, things went better than expected for the “Frida” actor and the two wed on Valentine’s Day in 2009. When talking to Town & Country about her marriage, Hayek gushed about her spouse, stating that he is “the best husband in the world. I get to be who I am with him, and I don’t feel that somebody tries to limit me.”
Thalia met her husband thanks to the Estefans
Mexican singer Thalia revealed on Facebook Watch’s Latin Music Queens that two star-studded celebrities were behind setting her up with legendary music executive Tommy Mottola, who she went on to marry in 2000.
The “Queen of Latin Pop” reflected on the day her path crossed with Mottola’s, sharing, “I met him in New York City on a blind date by Gloria and Emilio Estefan.” Emilio later appeared in the same video to further explain why he and his wife believed the two would be a match made in heaven. “I believe a lot in destiny and I told Tommy, ‘You have to meet this girl.’ I told Thalia, ‘You have to meet this guy,'” he said, adding, “It’s two people that are so important in my life because we share so many incredible moments and they’re family.”
While this is the first marriage for Thalia, this is the third for Mottola who famously wed pop diva Mariah Carey in 1993 when she was 23 years old and he was 43. The couple divorced in 1998, with Carey telling Cosmopolitan that she had felt like a “prisoner” in her marriage. However, Mottola has since apologized in his book “Hitmaker: The Man and His Music,” calling the union “inappropriate” (via Billboard).
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively were seeing other people
Actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively didn’t exactly meet on a blind date, but they were on a double date with other people when they instantly noticed sparks. Reynolds told People and EW Editorial Director Jess Cagle on SiriusXM’s Entertainment Weekly Radio “Deadpool” special that while he and the “Gossip Girl” star were just friends after they had filmed “Green Lantern” together, something more intimate was starting to develop.
“About a year after ‘Green Lantern’ had come and gone and we were both single we went on a double date — she was on a date with another guy and I was on a date with another girl — and it was like the most awkward date for the respective parties because we were just like fireworks coming across,” Reynolds shared, adding, “We were buddies for a long time, which I think is the best way to have a relationship, to start as friends.”
Just one year after “Green Lantern” was released, Lively and Reynolds tied the knot in an intimate ceremony on September 9, 2012. Since then, the couple has welcomed three daughters, James, Inez, and most recently, Betty, in 2019, which has officially made Reynolds a “Girl Dad.”
Tom Brady found 'a girl version' of himself
In 2019, NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen passed the 10-year milestone in their marriage, which is celebrated in a place like Hollywood. However, if it wasn’t for a mutual friend who set them up on a blind date, these two might have never crossed paths.
Sharing details about the meet-up, Brady told Details (via People), “This friend told me he knew a girl version of me,” with the model chiming in, “And he said to me he’d found a boy version of me.” In October 2018, while appearing on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Bündchen admitted that she was actually on her third blind date in a row, but instantly felt an attraction to Brady. “You know, when I saw those kind eyes, I literally fell in love, like, right away. I was like, ‘What?’ He was just … you know how sweet he is.'”
According to Country Living, it wasn’t long before the two were engaged and getting married shortly after in a 20-person ceremony on February 26, 2009, at the Santa Monica Catholic Church. However, the couple would have a second wedding ceremony in April 2009 in the model’s home in Costa Rica, surrounded by her extended family. They are parents to two kids, and Bündchen is also the stepmom to Brady’s first child, who he had with model Bridget Moynahan.
Ali Wentworth gave George Stephanopoulos a shot
Comedian Ali Wentworth and political commentator George Stephanopoulos seem like an unlikely pair, but they have one of the longest-lasting marriages in Hollywood after tying the knot in 2001. On a 2017 episode of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” Wentworth explained that one of her girlfriends suggested she go on a date with her old boyfriend, who so happened to be the “Good Morning America” co-anchor. After some hesitancy on Wentworth’s part, the two got together in New York City, and as she recalled, “By the end of lunch, done. We were engaged two months later, married six months later.”
During an interview with Charlie Rose to promote her book “Ali in Wonderland,” Wentworth joked, “He dated the whole island of Manhattan before I came along,” adding, “It wasn’t love at first sight. It was, I sat with him and there was this amazing comfort and it really felt like being home.” The couple soon welcomed a daughter in 2002 named Elliot, and in 2004, welcomed a second girl named Harper.
Wentworth told People that divorce has never been an option in their marriage. “You just have to really come to terms with this idea that ‘I’m going to be with this person forever,'” she said. “Not, ‘Oh, I can always get a divorce or have an affair.’ You have to just go, ‘We’re in it until a nurse comes in and changes our diapers and wipes the drool off our faces.'”
Jeffrey Dean Morgan has his co-star to thank
In May 2021, Jeffrey Dean Morgan thanked his “Supernatural” co-star Jensen Ackles on Instagram for setting up a blind date for him 12 years ago that would lead him to date and eventually marry “One Tree Hill” star Hilarie Burton. Reflecting on that night on the couple’s video chat-based show on AMC called “Friday Night in with the Morgans,” Ackles shared the story on how he introduced Morgan to Burton.
“Hilarie was in town visiting, this was in L.A., and she was staying with us and so we went out one evening … I convinced [Morgan] to come down the street and meet us for a drink, and you did. And you pulled up in your Harley, and we were sitting there in the front window and Hilarie sees this guy get off a bike in slow-motion and take his helmet off and throw his hair [around],” Ackles recalled, adding, “You walked in, the two of you locked eyes, and that was pretty much the rest of the evening.”
According to People, after a decade together, the celeb couple finally decided to get married in 2019. On Instagram, Burton shared a sweet black and white photo of her and Morgan on their wedding day, with a caption that read, “Rather than make vows right out of the gate, we lived them. The good times and the bad. Standing up there with our children at our sides – celebrating all that had been – was bliss.”
Meghan Trainor was set up by another celebrity
Songstress Meghan Trainor revealed to James Corden while on “Carpool Karaoke” that she met her husband “Spy Kids” star Daryl Sabara on a blind date all thanks to her close pal actor Chloë Grace Moretz. When the “All About that Bass” singer was set up on a karaoke date with Sabara, she told Corden, “He sang, ‘Your Song’ by Elton John in my face, to me!” After admitting that she was impressed by his singing talents, she said, “And I was like, ‘I’m gonna marry you.'”
Realizing that her hubby has great vocal skills, Trainor told ET that they began to work on music together. “He sings background on every song I write now,” she shared, adding that he even “writes songs” with the pop star, too.
The Hollywood stars hit it off immediately with People reporting that the two tied the knot on her 25th birthday on December 22, 2018, in an intimate backyard ceremony in their L.A. home. “It’s the beginning of an awesome new life,” Trainor shared, adding, “I got way more than I ever wished for.” Sabara also gushed to People, stating, “I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson 'connected' right away
During “Keeping Up With the Kardashians 10 Year Anniversary Special” hosted by Ryan Seacrest, Khloé Kardashian revealed that she met NBA player Tristan Thompson on a blind date. “Brandon Jennings, who’s a basketball player, he’s a friend of mine and Malika [Haqq]’s, and he was like, ‘You’re such a good girl, I want to introduce you to someone,'” she recalled to Seacrest. “I was at the Bel-Air hotel. [Tristan] came to the dinner because I didn’t want to go on a blind date, so Brandon kind of ambushed the blind date. So, I had a bunch of people and he brought him and we just connected.”
The couple has been plagued with infidelity scandals. In 2018, Daily Mail reported Thompson apparently cheated on the reality star while she was pregnant with their daughter, True. Then in 2019, TMZ reported the basketball player apparently had a dalliance with Kylie Jenner’s friend Jordyn Woods. Kardashian and Thompson broke up in the wake of those rumors, but the two eventually reconciled.
In April 2021, model Sydney Chase went on the “No Jumper” podcast and said she hooked up with Thompson that January. Host Adam Johnson Grandmaison told Page Six he pulled the interview after Thompson sent a cease-and-desist. As Radar Online noted, Thompson attended the launch event for Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand in May 2021, leading many to assume he and Kardashian’s family have not cut ties following the latest round of rumors.
Meghan Markle did not know much about the royal family
Both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry surprisingly knew very little of each other when they were set up by a mutual friend on a blind date. Opening up during their first sit-down interview with the BBC News following their engagement in 2017, the couple shared how they were brought together by a close friend. Before their meeting, Markle remembered asking, “Well is he nice?” She further detailed their first outing, sharing, “So, we went and met for a drink, and then I think very quickly into that we said, ‘Well what are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again.'” The couple then went on their second date the following night.
Harry recalled in the interview that he then took Markle to Botswana where the two could be in a more intimate setting. “So then we were really by ourselves,” he shared. “Which I think, which was crucial to me to make sure we had a chance to get to know each other.”
On November 27, 2017, the couple announced their engagement and got married on May 19, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Since then, the couple has welcomed a son named Archie. In February 2021, Harry and Meghan shared they are expecting a second child. They have also stepped away from their roles as senior members of the royal family and have decided to raise their family in the United States.
Lauren Conrad knew her husband way before they dated
Lauren Conrad and William Tell have already reached a milestone in their marriage after getting hitched on September 13, 2014 in a beautiful ceremony in California, and are busy raising their two boys. However, there is so much more to this Hollywood love story. Conrad revealed she agreed to go on a blind date with Tell, set up by a mutual friend.
Apparently, the reality star was aware of Tell way before they were even set up, with Conrad sharing in a blog post (via Us Weekly) that she knew him when she was a teenager and he was a member of the band Something Corporate. “I met my husband when I was 16 and sitting on stage at one of his concerts,” she wrote. “Ten years later we were set up on a blind date.” Talk about fate. The pair clicked on a blind date on Valentine’s Day in 2012.
The former “The Hills” star gushed about her first year of marriage while doing a Q&A on her site in 2015 (via InStyle). “My favorite thing about being married is knowing that I have a partner in life that I get to do so many wonderful things with, she said. “Dreaming of the things we will do 20 years from now is so fun. The hardest is compromise. You always want to be considerate of each other. It’s not just about you anymore.”
Distance didn't thwart Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher
“American Idol” winner-turned-country superstar Carrie Underwood and her husband, Canadian-American former hockey player Mike Fisher, have proven that love can last in the public eye. And on top of that, they have successfully navigated a long-distance relationship. On an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music,” Underwood revealed that she was set up by one of the people in her band. Bassist Mark Childers suggested she go on a date with Fisher, but when she found he was based in Canada, she wasn’t so confident in their future. “I mean, can I make dating more difficult?” she wondered at the time. “Let’s get a hockey guy who lives in another country. Awesome.”
Underwood eventually met Fisher at a meet-and-greet after one of her concerts and let Childers know she approved via text. However, with the singer’s home base in Franklin, Tennessee at the time (per CountryLiving) and Fisher playing for the Ottawa Senators, the pair talked on the phone for three months before finally seeing each other again for New Year’s Eve in 2008 with Underwood revealing that they shared their first kiss at midnight. In 2010, they tied the knot at the Ritz-Carlton resort in Georgia.
“When you have a spark with somebody and you have a connection that’s wonderful,” Underwood said on the aforementioned “Behind the Music” ep. “Then when you agree on the core things in your life, your beliefs and your faith, and that does connect you to somebody even deeper.”
Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber met as wedding dates
Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber were first introduced by her agent Michael Gruber, who suggested the businessman escort the model to his wedding. At the time, both stars had significant others, but apparently, neither wanted or could attend, with Crawford once telling Harper’s Bazaar, “When I met him I was still with Richard [Gere] and he didn’t want to go to the wedding with me … Rande also had a girlfriend at the time so he wasn’t looking to meet anyone either and that’s the best time to meet someone because that’s when you’re truly yourselves.”
According to People, unlike Crawford, Gerber was well-prepared to meet the top model. “I knew who she was, and I knew she was beautiful,” he said. However, to get to know one another better, the two decided to meet the night before the wedding and instantly, they formed a friendship. When Crawford and Gere ended their marriage in 1994, the model and Gerber gave love a try.
On May 29, 1998, Crawford and Gerber tied the knot on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, with their special day the definition of a relaxed beach wedding. Crawford opted to wear a mini dress by John Galliano while both stars went barefoot to say their “I do’s” (per Harper’s Bazaar).
Kamala Harris' husband Doug Emhoff thought he blew it
Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff believed he blew his chances with her when the pair were set up by Harris’ best friend, Chrisette Hudlin, who previously met Emhoff and believed they would be a perfect match. As Harris recounted in “The Truths We Hold,” Emhoff got her number from Hudlin and left a lengthy voicemail, thinking it “had been disastrous” and had to “restrain himself from calling again and leaving another long-winded message trying to explain the first one.” However, Harris was captivated by Emhoff and the two found time to set up their first date.
In her 2019 memoir, Harris recalled that Emhoff sent her an email the very next day after their first date, which read, “I’m too old to play games or hide the ball. I really like you, and I want to see if we can make this work.” Two months later, Harris met his two children from a previous marriage, writing in an essay for Elle magazine, “I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in.” She went on to share that after she wed Emhoff in 2014, his kids started calling her “Momala” instead of stepmom.
According to Business Insider, Emhoff made the decision to leave his law firm behind to support his wife as she became the first woman elected vice president, while he became the first-ever second gentleman of the United States.
Jon Stewart wasn't optimistic about his blind date
When one thinks of a blind date, they usually assume a mutual friend is involved in the matchmaking process. That was not the case for Jon Stewart and wife Tracey McShane. As the former “Daily Show” host told Larry King in 2002, he was set up more or less by a stranger. “I was shooting something in lower Manhattan and a woman that was working on the set said, ‘I know this girl who I think you would very much like,'” he said. “And the way she described her was in such glowing terms, I thought, well, I’d be a jackass not to go out with this woman.'”
Stewart believed the blind date went horribly. “I thought she hated me,” he shared in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, with his wife adding, “I was embarrassed by how we met, and so nervous that I couldn’t eat.” However, things went better than expected once the two shared a few drinks.
As if that wasn’t adorable enough, Stewart would go on to propose to McShane through a New York Times crossword puzzle with the help of the newspaper’s puzzle editor Will Shortz, who created a puzzle that led to the proposal (per Los Angeles Times). The two later wed in 2000 and have two children together.
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